LAHORE: The Punjab home department is equipping all 10 central jails, the Lahore district jail and 10 command and control centres with modern technology under the first phase of the Rs5 billion Safe Jail Project.

A meeting chaired by home Secretary Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi on Wednesday reviewed progress of the project and set future targets.

The meeting was informed that work on the Safe Jail Project was underway to enhance the security of Punjab’s prisons through modern technology, while the procurement and inspection of 80pc of the modern equipment had already been completed. More than 12,000 modern cameras would be installed in Punjab’s prisons under the Safe Jail Project.

The meeting was told that some 615 panic buttons, 1,525 public address systems, 369 body cameras, 615 walkie-talkie systems and 41 X-ray body scanners would be installed in Punjab’s prisons. In addition, 82 under-vehicle surveillance systems and 787 facial recognition access devices would also be installed.

In order to further enhance prison security, 133 software systems and 51 video conferencing systems would also be installed. The modern cameras were equipped with facial and vehicle recognition capabilities, while night-vision, anti-shake and artificial intelligence-based cameras would also be deployed.

A visitor management system would be made operational to monitor all visitors, while cameras would also be used to monitor the attendance and movement of prisoners and prison staff. An automatic alarm would be generated in the event of any violation of prison rules.

Entry and exit points, offices, barracks, security walls, jamming areas, kitchens, hospitals and libraries would be brought under surveillance.

Calling for progress to be reviewed on a daily basis by all stakeholders, the home secretary said the Lahore central jail and its command and control centre project needed to be completed during the current month, while March 2027 was set as the deadline for completion of the project across prisons in Punjab.

For effective monitoring, control rooms would be established at all prisons, regional DIG offices, the office of the inspector general of prisons and the home department. The project agreement also includes five years of operations and maintenance following completion of the project.

The services of the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) have been engaged for implementation of the Punjab Safe Jail Project, while the Punjab Safe Cities Authority is providing consultancy services for the project.

The meeting was attended by Prisons Inspector General Mian Salik Jalal, NRTC Managing Director Brigadier Azmat Shabbir, Prisons Additional Secretary Rooman Burana, NRTC General Manager Syed Amir Javed, Prisons DIG Naveed Rauf, Project Director Col Wajid Mahmood, Project Director Imtiaz Abbas, representatives of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and other relevant officials. Punjab Safe Cities Authority Managing Director Ahsan Younas participated in the meeting via video-link.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2026